Someone Way Down Here
by RowenaR
Summary: You're back in Colorado Springs. Just for a few days, you keep telling yourself.


**Author:** RowenaR

**Rating:** K+

**Category:** gen

**Disclaimer:** Warehouse 13 isn't mine. And I should really catch up with the rest of the Season. Oh, and Stargate isn't mine either. Yeah.

**Summary: **You're back in Colorado Springs. Just for a few days, you keep telling yourself.

**A/N: **Holiday Fic Request Meme. It's been _ages_ since I wrote Warehouse 13 fic for the last time and this is only my second fic in the fandom. I couldn't fully answer the prompt prompt (I'm sorry!) because I still haven't caught up with everything after Love Sick but something else happened during the writing of this story. I guess it was inevitable, given the fact that Myka is from _Colorado Springs_ and my mind is hardwired to Stargate. So, uh... this kind of turned into a crossover but not really and uh... see for yourself?

Anyway, as always: Not a native speaker, so please excuse any weird grammatical constructions, run-ons and typos. Feedback will earn you a cookie, flames will roast my marshmellows.

* * *

><p><strong>Someone Way Down Here<strong>

"_The gods may throw a dice  
>Their minds as cold as ice<br>And someone way down here  
>Loses someone dear<br>The winner takes it all  
>The loser has to fall<br>It's simple and it's plain  
>Why should I complain."<em>

_ABBA, "The Winner Takes it All"_

So you're back in Colorado Springs. Somehow you never thought it would end like this. You always thought you'd end up dying in the line of duty or leave the Service after 20 years to go into retirement. You never thought you'd leave it like _that_.

But you messed up, big time, as Pete would say and you needed to draw the consequences. You let Helena play you for a fool and you were almost responsible for the destruction of the entire world because you allowed yourself to get close to someone who would inevitably destroy you. Again. You let it happen _again_ and that's why you're unfit for service. You had to go.

It hurt to leave but the disappointment in Artie's eyes and the pleading look in Pete's hurt more so you turned your back and left the Warehouse and the Service. You just couldn't go back to ordinary assignments after the world of wonder that was the Warehouse. It's why you came back to The Springs. It's the only place you can still call home and in the books in your father's shop, you always find a bit of that wonder the Warehouse was. You know, only two days after leaving Univille, that you will always miss the Warehouse and your team. You know that you need to keep a bit of that or you will inevitably go insane.

So you're standing in front of Bering & Sons, with your suitcase and your broken heart and now that you're here, you feel like you're twelve years old again and just got a B in literature instead of your usual straight As. You're afraid your parents will judge you a failure. Most of all because you _are_ a failure. You gave up the Warehouse.

It's so hard because you're Myka Bering and you never give up on anything. You… you will stop moping now and face your parents. With the resolve that always spooked Pete, you grab your suitcase and enter the shop. Immediately the smell of old books engulfs you. You feel so much at home that you're ready to cry.

The only reason you don't do it is that you can see that your father is taking care of two customers. Suddenly, you feel out of place again… like an intruder. Your parents have long settled into their routine alone since you and Tracy moved out. They don't need you here.

You're about to turn around again when your father has spotted you. "Myka," he says and smiles at you and the customers turn around as well. A man and a woman, both blond, maybe in their early forties or late thirties and your trained Warehouse agent's mind deducts in matter of second that there's more to them than meets the eye.

You make the inner agent shut up and take a few steps towards your father. You try to smile. "Hey, dad."

You can see that he registered the suitcase but he doesn't say anything. He probably thinks you're here for a surprise visit. "It's so nice to see you, Myka." You're about to answer but he's faster, turning back to his customers. "Oh, I'm sorry. Myka, these are Air Force Colonels Carter and Mitchell. They're two of our best customers. Colonel Carter, Colonel Mitchell, this is my daughter, Myka Bering. She works for the Secret Service."

You hear the pride in your father's voice, the urge to tell them "She protected the President. She saves people's lives. She saved _my_ life." and you decide that he deserves the truth. Even if it's in front of two high ranking officers, probably out of NORAD at Peterson. "Actually, I… used to work for the Secret Service."

There's incomprehension in your father's face and the officers look at each other. Then the woman, Carter, looks at you and you feel the creepy sensation of being assessed thoroughly. You don't dare look at her too closely, for fear of being found lacking. You're surprised when she says, "Forgive me for being so direct, Ms. Bering… but we heard about your branch of the Secret Service. Whatever happened to terminate your engagement there… if you ever decide to get back into government service, feel free to call this number."

With that, Carter puts a business card into your hand and you blink. The creepiest thing about this is that you believe Carter. You believe that wherever she is working, they know about the Warehouse. You believe that they know about Warehouse agents and the kind of work they do. You wonder if Artie ever worked together with the Air Force but you dismiss the thought immediately. You don't want to feel the urge to call up the Warehouse and ask about it and solve the puzzle that the two Colonels suddenly pose. Your time of solving puzzles is over.

You fumble the business card. "Thanks… thanks for the offer, ma'am, but I'm not planning on…"

"See, Sam, I _told_ you not to go randomly recruiting people. It always confuses the hell out of them," the male Colonel chidingly tells Carter and turning to you, he says, "I'm sorry, Ms. Bering, but sometimes she gets carried away and…"

"It wasn't randomly, Cam," Carter tells Mitchell in a quiet, serious way and you look at your father again. He probably lost the conversation a couple of minutes ago and you're not so sure if you can still follow, either. "Anyway… be sure to call me when you have the time, Ms. Bering. Mr. Bering… it was a pleasure as always."

With that, you watch the officers pay for their purchases and for a moment, you wonder what two Air Force officers would want with a book on Assyrian cuneiform from the 19th century and one on conspiracy theories on alien visits to Earth from the 1980s but you force yourself to stop thinking like a Warehouse agent just in time for them to say their goodbyes and leave your father's book shop.

It's only you and your father now and you feel like you have to make conversation, just to keep him from asking about the statement of not working for the Secret Service anymore. "What the hell was _that_ about, dad? Do you know where those two work? That sure was…"

"Myka," he says and looks at you like on the day you were twelve and brought home a B in literature and felt like the biggest screw-up ever, "whatever it is, it's going to be alright again. Just give it some time. We're here, if you need us." You never loved your father as much as you do right now. Not even when you were twelve and he told you getting a B in literature doesn't make you the biggest screw-up ever.

You nod, not trusting yourself to speak without tearing up after all and your father walks out from behind the counter to turn around the sign on the door to Closed. "Come on, your mother said she made hot chocolate. I'm sure we can find you a cup."

With that, he leads you up the stairs to your parents' apartment and the scent of old books mingles with the scent of hot chocolate. For the first time in days, you feel safe. Safe and taken care of and like you might have found a place to catch your breath. Just a few days, you think, just a few days to calm down and regroup, so you can find the strength to look ahead and find another way to make for you in the world, away from the Warehouse. Maybe you'll even find the time to heal. Maybe you'll even give Colonel Carter that call. You've got all the time in the world.

But all of that doesn't matter right now because when your mother puts a mug of hot chocolate in your hands and sets you down in your favorite arm chair, you just can't hold it in anymore. You start crying silently and suddenly, it's not as bad as you thought it would be. Because you're with your family. Because you're with people you love. It's all you need right now.


End file.
